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This two-day course explores a wide range of innovative projects in the U.S. and abroad that are transforming sites, buildings, and urban districts by adding viable urban agriculture. The course looks beyond the compelling images and provides specific practical and technical information for professionals as resources for new projects and initiatives in the future. The course will employ a combination of presentations, discussion with practitioners and leaders in urban agriculture, and a local field trip taking advantage of Boston’s model approaches.

Key Topics:

•     From vision to reality: Trends, inspirations, and project opportunities
•     Urban agriculture and site design: best practices and environmental implications
•     Buildings as farms: Opportunities inside, outside, and on top of buildings
•     New systems and technologies: comprehensive, integrated approaches
•     Urban design for agriculture: design standards, reviews, and zoning

Class Activities: The course will be conducted through a sequence of presentations and interactive seminar sessions exploring the course's major topics. Each segment will be accompanied with summaries and links or references to programs, technical information, and projects. The course will include a field trip to two operating farms in urban neighborhoods of Boston, one which is a for-profit organization and one with a non-profit structure. The field trip will set the context for a presentation and discussion of how the City of Boston is advancing new zoning rules and design standards so that urban agriculture blooms in the dense, New England environment.

Audience: This session is appropriate for architects, landscape architects, urban designers and planners, urban developers and landowners, and community advocates. Attendees will develop and understanding of the technical issues in each field related to urban agriculture and apply that information to help implement urban agriculture projects.

For more information and to register, go to: http://execed.gsd.harvard.edu/